Introducing Bun Cha, the famous caramelised pork meatballs from the stress of Hanoi. Traditional Vietnamese food, made at home! This is an easy Vietnamese recipe that anyone can make that’s full of flavour. No need to hunt down obscure ingredients at an Asian store!
Serve it over vermicelli noodles with Vietnamese Nuoc Cham Sauce and your fresh vegetables of choice.
Bun Cha – traditional Vietnamese street food!
Any self respecting foodie visiting a new country will be armed with a list of “Must Try Foods!!“. And for visitors of Vietnam, Bun Cha should be right up there, alongside Pho, fresh rice paper rolls, and Banh Mi, to name a few favourites.
It was certainly one of the first foods I hunted down when I visited Vietnam. A top-priority!
These are photos of a Bun Cha speciality place in Hanoi that we visited. The Bun Cha was as great as we expected, and I’m happy to report the flimsy stools you spy held up for the whole meal. (Flimsy plastic stools are the norm everywhere, and we were seriously concerned every time we planted our butts down on them!)
What is Bun Cha?
Bun Cha is a traditional Vietnamese pork dish that’s a speciality of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Seasoned pork patties (I call them squished meatballs) and caramelised pork belly slices are served in a broth alongside rice noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs.
How to eat Bun Cha – The idea is to use the broth for dunking the noodles, vegetables and herbs. So you dunk, slurp noodles, bite into juicy pork, try to cram in a few sprigs of herbs – and that moment when you succeed, when you get a mouthful with a bit of everything…
THAT my friends, is a big, fat mouthful that epitomises all that is great about Vietnamese food. That perfect balance of fresh, savoury, sweet, herb, citrus, tender noodles, and that juicy caramelised pork….. YES!!!
About this Bun Cha recipe
This Bun Cha recipe I’m sharing today is a simple home version that’s a style more familiar to those of us outside of Vietnam. On point with flavour, but presented differently.
To make this a simple dinner recipe, I’ve skipped the pork belly and made noodle bowls with the sauce for spooning over, rather than serving it “soup” style. This Noodle Bowl way of serving Vietnamese food is increasingly popular here in Sydney, especially with the work lunch crowd.
How to make Vietnamese Meatballs
You’ll love how you won’t need to take a trip to an Asian store for this! You’ll also love how versatile this recipe actually is.
The Vietnamese (squished) meatballs are just made with pork, garlic, sugar, fish sauce*, salt, pepper and scallions/green onions. Fish sauce is the key seasoning here, and the touch of sugar that makes the surface beautifully caramelised.
The Vietnamese Sauce is a version of Nuoc Cham, a version of which is served with “everything” in Vietnamese cuisine (and that’s no exaggeration).
The sauce for Bun Cha is made with fish sauce*, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, garlic and chilli (hot or not hot, or even skip it). It’s diluted with water to make it more like a soup broth. In a nod to the authentic way Bun Cha is served, the idea with this recipe is to use lots of sauce. You need it, to slurp up the noodles!
* I know there are people who aren’t a fan of fish sauce. But fish sauce is as Vietnamese as Banh Mi, so I really do urge you to use it if you can. This recipe is in no way “fishy” tasting like some Vietnamese foods. It’s just a savoury seasoning that has more depth of flavour than soy sauce.
Essential Sides
To complete the bowl, these Vietnamese Meatballs are served traditional Bun Cha style with noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs.
The noodles are rice vermicelli noodles, found “everywhere” nowadays in Australia. Simply soak in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain.
Fresh vegetables and herbs are an essential part of Vietnamese food, and you’ll get large bowls served alongside almost every meal. Bean sprouts, mint and coriander/cilantro are the most common, as well as pickled vegetables.
But this is the sort of recipe that’s terrifically versatile that will work well with many types of vegetables. Shredded cabbage or lettuce, or other leafy greens. Finely sliced cucumber, green beans, red radish, cherry tomatoes, even asparagus. Most fresh vegetables will work great in this!
In today’s recipe, I’ve also provided a quick Asian pickled vegetables recipe which is ideal to serve with this Bun Cha recipe. But pickling is optional.
The length of the list of ingredients is actually quite deceptive because there’s a handful of repeat ingredients. So don’t be turned off just because this isn’t a 5 ingredient recipe. 🙂
It’s worth it, I promise. If you love Vietnamese food (and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t!), this one will really hit the spot! – Nagi x
Get your Vietnamese fix!
- Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
- Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
- Vietnamese Caramel Pork – another iconic Vietnamese food! Also see the Chicken version.
- Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
- Vietnamese Noodle Salad
- Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Bun Cha – Vietnamese Meatballs
Watch how to make it
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Bun Cha – Vietnamese Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 250 – 300 g/8 – 10 oz pork mince (ground pork)(Note 1)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tsp white sugar
- 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions / scallions
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- Pinch of white pepper and salt
- 2 tsp lemongrass paste or fresh finely chopped , optional (Note 4)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil , for cooking
Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Dressing / Sauce – Note 2):
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 birds eye chilli , seeded and finely chopped (Note 3)
- 3 cloves garlic , finely chopped
Serving (Note 4):
- 100 g / 3.5 oz vermicelli noodles , dried
- Big handful beansprouts
- Few lettuce leaves , folded or shredded
- Julienned carrot and white radish (daikon), optional quick pickle (Note 5)
- Handful of coriander/cilantro sprigs , mint
- Sliced red chilli , lime wedges (optional)
Instructions
- Sauce: Mix ingredients. Set aside 10 minutes+.
- Noodles: Pour over boiling water and soak per packet directions. Drain, set aside.
Meatballs:
- Mix all ingredients except oil until combined.
- Shape into 6 mini hamburger patties with your hands.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add patties and cook for 2 1/2 minutes or until golden. Flip, cook 2 minutes then remove.
Assemble Bowls:
- Place noodles in bowl. Top with a handful of beansprouts, wedge in lettuce, carrots and radish in.
- Place meatballs on top, top with coriander and mint.
- Spoon over a generous amount of Sauce (it’s supposed to be like a soup broth), eat and be happy!
Recipe Notes:
8. Adapted from a few Vietnamese cookbooks, including My Vietnamese Kitchen by Uyen Luu and Hanoi Street Food by Luk This and Tom Vandenberghe. 9. Nutrition is for meatballs and sauce only, assuming all sauce is consumed.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Title says it all – this is the Life of Dozer.
karyn says
Made them, loved them. But they were a little too salty, maybe it was my fish sauce. A keeper!
karyn says
The meatballs were just as good reheated next day. Lucky I made double quantity.
Hanna says
🤤 If you haven’t made this yet and are wondering whether you should….
yes
You
Should
Incredible!!
Again, no need to tweak your recipes, they’re perfect as they are!
Sarah says
This recipe is great and pretty easy to make! I accidentally bought triple the amount of pork needed, so I tripled the recipe and it turned out great.
Nagi says
They make a great freezer meal too Sarah! N x
Mary Joyce says
Cannot say enough about how marvelous this recipe is! Easy and adaptable. Used carrot and red radish for the pickles and they turned out amazing. Doubled the sauce, b/c we love sauce. My husband has announced that this is going in “the book” — the recipes he wants to eat again and again!
Nagi says
Wahoo! I love this one too – one of those meals I could eat every day! N x
Mary Joyce says
Just a quick follow-up: I sent the recipe to our three kids (one at uni, one in grad school, and one working). They ALL love this meal! It was quick and easy for them to make, and their student budgets could afford it. Thank you so much for sharing!
Raymunda estrada says
This was absolutely on delicious……..
Jen says
This was absolutely spot on delicious!!!!!
Simone says
Please send simple recipes
Nagi says
I have a stack of them Simone, head to this category for some inspiration: https://www.recipetineats.com/category/collections/quick-dinner-ideas-15-minute-meals/ N x
Ximena Dee says
Wow, your recipe is now our favorite vietnamese dish.
This is a super delicous feast!
Lora Markova says
So delicious! And surprisingly quick to prepare. We ate it two days in a row and kept asking for more.
Thank you for the yummy moments! 🙂
Beatrice Newburg says
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious!! Couldn’t eat it fast enough. I made meatballs vietnamese style before but this recipe was much better, less sweet.
As always Nagi, your recipes and suggestions are always well sampled and the options are always very good too!
Jo says
Yum! I was amazed at the incredible flavour in this recipe. I tripled the recipe so cooked the meatballs in the oven, they still turned out beautifully browned. Great recipe Nagi, thank you.
Nagi says
Sounds like you nailed it Jo!!! N x
Katie says
So tasty and easy to make! I didn’t have pork so I used ground turkey instead. Worked great! Hubby said to add to the “keeper” file. Thank you for a great recipe 😀
Martina says
I love this recipe and just adapted with extra chilli to give it a bit of bite. So easy to follow just like most of Nagi’s recipes. Addicted 100%
Linda D. says
I’ve made this several times and will use scallions or cilantro and add ginger too… my family LOVES this recipe! I also use the same seasoning with boneless skinless chicken thighs. Both are amazingly delicious!!
Rosie says
So good!! I served it with raw carrot, cabbage and cucumber as that’s all I had on hand and it was lovely. Followed the recipe exactly otherwise and will be adding this to the rotation! Thanks Nagi!
Tammy says
Yum! This is our fourth time making this recipe and it gets better each time. A family favorite, for sure. Thank you for sharing it!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you Loe it Tammy!!! N x
Sharon H says
Another great recipe – thanks Nagi! I did though add some finely chopped coriander root & coriander leaves plus added a splosh of sweet chilli sauce as well (only put in 1 tsp sugar which). Rolled 500g pork mince into 12 balls and cooked in my air fryer for 10 mins x 180 degrees. Perfectly cooked and a little caramelized on the outside. Going to have these in a wrap with the pickled veges tomorrow. Hubby “taste tested” one of the meatballs and gave them the thumbs up!!
Mary Gubbrud says
Planning to make this tonight. Is broth served room temperature or should it be heated?
Nagi says
Hi Mary, no need to heat up – it’s just served at room temperature 🙂 N x
Allison Hutchison says
Thanks for the great recipe, which I think will be a new staple in our house. We loved the combination of flavors and were surprised about making the meatballs without any binding agent like breadcrumbs or egg–it worked! My husband called them “fluffy” even. I couldn’t find bean sprouts or mint, so I subbed with English cucumber and basil. Both were excellent. I pickled the cucumbers with the carrots and added the scallion whites. I didn’t have fresh lemongrass but used dried, and that seemed to work just fine. I also didn’t have red chili, so I subbed with Vietnamese garlic chili sauce in the nuoc cham. Delicious! I haven’t made nuoc cham in forever, and apparently I just need to make a big jar and keep it in the fridge. 🙂
Susan DellaRocco says
Absolutely loved this recipe and its versatility. Added additional vegetables that we needed to use up as suggested. Once I julienned them, the kids had no idea they were leftovers and ate them with gusto.
I even passed the recipe onto a vegetarian friend who wants to try it (minus the meat of course)